scholarly journals Summer-Season Forecast Experiments with the NCEP Climate Forecast System Using Different Land Models and Different Initial Land States

2011 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 2319-2334 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rongqian Yang ◽  
Kenneth Mitchell ◽  
Jesse Meng ◽  
Michael Ek

Abstract To examine the impact from land model upgrades and different land initializations on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)’s Climate Forecast System (CFS), extensive T126 CFS experiments are carried out for 25 summers with 10 ensemble members using the old Oregon State University (OSU) land surface model (LSM) and the new Noah LSM. The CFS using the Noah LSM, initialized in turn with land states from the NCEP–Department of Energy Global Reanalysis 2 (GR-2), Global Land Data System (GLDAS), and GLDAS climatology, is compared to the CFS control run using the OSU LSM initialized with the GR-2 land states. Using anomaly correlation as a primary measure, the summer-season prediction skill of the CFS using different land models and different initial land states is assessed for SST, precipitation, and 2-m air temperature over the contiguous United States (CONUS) on an ensemble basis. Results from these CFS experiments indicate that upgrading from the OSU LSM to the Noah LSM improves the overall CONUS June–August (JJA) precipitation prediction, especially during ENSO neutral years. Such an enhancement in CFS performance requires the execution of a GLDAS with the very same Noah LSM as utilized in the land component of the CFS, while improper initializations of the Noah LSM using the GR-2 land states lead to degraded CFS performance. In comparison with precipitation, the land upgrades have a relatively small impact on both of the SST and 2-m air temperature predictions.

2006 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teddy R. Holt ◽  
Dev Niyogi ◽  
Fei Chen ◽  
Kevin Manning ◽  
Margaret A. LeMone ◽  
...  

Abstract Numerical simulations are conducted using the Coupled Ocean/Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPS) to investigate the impact of land–vegetation processes on the prediction of mesoscale convection observed on 24–25 May 2002 during the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002). The control COAMPS configuration uses the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version of the Noah land surface model (LSM) initialized using a high-resolution land surface data assimilation system (HRLDAS). Physically consistent surface fields are ensured by an 18-month spinup time for HRLDAS, and physically consistent mesoscale fields are ensured by a 2-day data assimilation spinup for COAMPS. Sensitivity simulations are performed to assess the impact of land–vegetative processes by 1) replacing the Noah LSM with a simple slab soil model (SLAB), 2) adding a photosynthesis, canopy resistance/transpiration scheme [the gas exchange/photosynthesis-based evapotranspiration model (GEM)] to the Noah LSM, and 3) replacing the HRLDAS soil moisture with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) 40-km Eta Data Assimilation (EDAS) operational soil fields. CONTROL, EDAS, and GEM develop convection along the dryline and frontal boundaries 2–3 h after observed, with synoptic-scale forcing determining the location and timing. SLAB convection along the boundaries is further delayed, indicating that detailed surface parameterization is necessary for a realistic model forecast. EDAS soils are generally drier and warmer than HRLDAS, resulting in more extensive development of convection along the dryline than for CONTROL. The inclusion of photosynthesis-based evapotranspiration (GEM) improves predictive skill for both air temperature and moisture. Biases in soil moisture and temperature (as well as air temperature and moisture during the prefrontal period) are larger for EDAS than HRLDAS, indicating land–vegetative processes in EDAS are forced by anomalously warmer and drier conditions than observed. Of the four simulations, the errors in SLAB predictions of these quantities are generally the largest. By adding a sophisticated transpiration model, the atmospheric model is able to better respond to the more detailed representation of soil moisture and temperature. The sensitivity of the synoptically forced convection to soil and vegetative processes including transpiration indicates that detailed representation of land surface processes should be included in weather forecasting models, particularly for severe storm forecasting where local-scale information is important.


2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 2917-2932 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Xu ◽  
R. D. Pyles ◽  
K. T. Paw U ◽  
S. H. Chen ◽  
E. Monier

Abstract. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is coupled with the Advanced Canopy–Atmosphere–Soil Algorithm (ACASA), a high-complexity land surface model. Although WRF is a state-of-the-art regional atmospheric model with high spatial and temporal resolutions, the land surface schemes available in WRF, such as the popular NOAH model, are simple and lack the capability of representing the canopy structure. In contrast, ACASA is a complex multilayer land surface model with interactive canopy physiology and high-order turbulence closure that allows for an accurate representation of heat, momentum, water, and carbon dioxide fluxes between the land surface and the atmosphere. It allows for microenvironmental variables such as surface air temperature, wind speed, humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration to vary vertically within and above the canopy. Surface meteorological conditions, including air temperature, dew point temperature, and relative humidity, simulated by WRF-ACASA and WRF-NOAH are compared and evaluated with observations from over 700 meteorological stations in California. Results show that the increase in complexity in the WRF-ACASA model not only maintains model accuracy but also properly accounts for the dominant biological and physical processes describing ecosystem–atmosphere interactions that are scientifically valuable. The different complexities of physical and physiological processes in the WRF-ACASA and WRF-NOAH models also highlight the impact of different land surface models on atmospheric and surface conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 950-964 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan D. Snow ◽  
Scott D. Christensen ◽  
Nathan R. Swain ◽  
E. James Nelson ◽  
Daniel P. Ames ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1857-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. J. Guerrette ◽  
D. K. Henze

Abstract. Here we present the online meteorology and chemistry adjoint and tangent linear model, WRFPLUS-Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting plus chemistry), which incorporates modules to treat boundary layer mixing, emission, aging, dry deposition, and advection of black carbon aerosol. We also develop land surface and surface layer adjoints to account for coupling between radiation and vertical mixing. Model performance is verified against finite difference derivative approximations. A second-order checkpointing scheme is created to reduce computational costs and enable simulations longer than 6 h. The adjoint is coupled to WRFDA-Chem, in order to conduct a sensitivity study of anthropogenic and biomass burning sources throughout California during the 2008 Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaign. A cost-function weighting scheme was devised to reduce the impact of statistically insignificant residual errors in future inverse modeling studies. Results of the sensitivity study show that, for this domain and time period, anthropogenic emissions are overpredicted, while wildfire emission error signs vary spatially. We consider the diurnal variation in emission sensitivities to determine at what time sources should be scaled up or down. Also, adjoint sensitivities for two choices of land surface model (LSM) indicate that emission inversion results would be sensitive to forward model configuration. The tools described here are the first step in conducting four-dimensional variational data assimilation in a coupled meteorology–chemistry model, which will potentially provide new constraints on aerosol precursor emissions and their distributions. Such analyses will be invaluable to assessments of particulate matter health and climate impacts.


Author(s):  
Nemesio Rodriguez-Fernandez ◽  
Patricia de Rosnay ◽  
Clement Albergel ◽  
Philippe Richaume ◽  
Filipe Aires ◽  
...  

The assimilation of Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) data into the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts) H-TESSEL (Hydrology revised - Tiled ECMWF Scheme for Surface Exchanges over Land) model is presented. SMOS soil moisture (SM) estimates have been produced specifically by training a neural network with SMOS brightness temperatures as input and H-TESSEL model SM simulations as reference. This can help the assimilation of SMOS information in several ways: (1) the neural network soil moisture (NNSM) data have a similar climatology to the model, (2) no global bias is present with respect to the model even if regional differences can exist. Experiments performing joint data assimilation (DA) of NNSM, 2 metre air temperature and relative humidity or NNSM-only DA are discussed. The resulting SM was evaluated against a large number of in situ measurements of SM obtaining similar results to those of the model with no assimilation, even if significant differences were found from site to site. In addition, atmospheric forecasts initialized with H-TESSEL runs (without DA) or with the analysed SM were compared to measure of the impact of the satellite information. Although, NNSM DA has an overall neutral impact in the forecast in the Tropics, a significant positive impact was found in other areas and periods, especially in regions with limited in situ information. The joint NNSM, T2m and RH2m DA improves the forecast for all the seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. The impact is mostly due to T2m and RH2m, but SMOS NN DA alone also improves the forecast in July- September. In the Northern Hemisphere, the joint NNSM, T2m and RH2m DA improves the forecast in April-September, while NNSM alone has a significant positive effect in July-September. Furthermore, forecasting skill maps show that SMOS NNSM improves the forecast in North America and in Northern Asia for up to 72 hours lead time.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leqiang Sun ◽  
Stéphane Belair ◽  
Marco Carrera ◽  
Bernard Bilodeau

<p>Canadian Space Agency (CSA) has recently started receiving and processing the images from the recently launched C-band RADARSAT Constellation Mission (RCM). The backscatter and soil moisture retrievals products from the previously launched RADARSAT-2 agree well with both in-situ measurements and surface soil moisture modeled with land surface model Soil, Vegetation, and Snow (SVS). RCM will provide those products at an even better spatial coverage and temporal resolution. In preparation of the potential operational application of RCM products in Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC), this paper presents the scenarios of assimilating either soil moisture retrieval or outright backscatter signal in a 100-meter resolution version of the Canadian Land Data Assimilation System (CaLDAS) on field scale with time interval of three hours. The soil moisture retrieval map was synthesized by extrapolating the regression relationship between in-situ measurements and open loop model output based on soil texture lookup table. Based on this, the backscatter map was then generated with the surface roughness retrieved from RADARSAT-2 images using a modified Integral Equation Model (IEM) model. Bias correction was applied to the Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) to mitigate the impact of nonlinear errors introduced by multi-sourced perturbations. Initial results show that the assimilation of backscatter is as effective as assimilating soil moisture retrievals. Compared to open loop, both can improve the analysis of surface moisture, particularly in terms of reducing bias.  </p>


2014 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1293-1302 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Tugrul Yilmaz ◽  
Wade T. Crow

Abstract Triple collocation analysis (TCA) enables estimation of error variances for three or more products that retrieve or estimate the same geophysical variable using mutually independent methods. Several statistical assumptions regarding the statistical nature of errors (e.g., mutual independence and orthogonality with respect to the truth) are required for TCA estimates to be unbiased. Even though soil moisture studies commonly acknowledge that these assumptions are required for an unbiased TCA, no study has specifically investigated the degree to which errors in existing soil moisture datasets conform to these assumptions. Here these assumptions are evaluated both analytically and numerically over four extensively instrumented watershed sites using soil moisture products derived from active microwave remote sensing, passive microwave remote sensing, and a land surface model. Results demonstrate that nonorthogonal and error cross-covariance terms represent a significant fraction of the total variance of these products. However, the overall impact of error cross correlation on TCA is found to be significantly larger than the impact of nonorthogonal errors. Because of the impact of cross-correlated errors, TCA error estimates generally underestimate the true random error of soil moisture products.


2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 1115-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Mao ◽  
S. J. Phipps ◽  
A. J. Pitman ◽  
Y. P. Wang ◽  
G. Abramowitz ◽  
...  

Abstract. The CSIRO Mk3L climate system model, a reduced-resolution coupled general circulation model, has previously been described in this journal. The model is configured for millennium scale or multiple century scale simulations. This paper reports the impact of replacing the relatively simple land surface scheme that is the default parameterisation in Mk3L with a sophisticated land surface model that simulates the terrestrial energy, water and carbon balance in a physically and biologically consistent way. An evaluation of the new model's near-surface climatology highlights strengths and weaknesses, but overall the atmospheric variables, including the near-surface air temperature and precipitation, are simulated well. The impact of the more sophisticated land surface model on existing variables is relatively small, but generally positive. More significantly, the new land surface scheme allows an examination of surface carbon-related quantities including net primary productivity which adds significantly to the capacity of Mk3L. Overall, results demonstrate that this reduced-resolution climate model is a good foundation for exploring long time scale phenomena. The addition of the more sophisticated land surface model enables an exploration of important Earth System questions including land cover change and abrupt changes in terrestrial carbon storage.


2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (15) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. M. Subin ◽  
W. J. Riley ◽  
J. Jin ◽  
D. S. Christianson ◽  
M. S. Torn ◽  
...  

Abstract A regional atmosphere model [Weather Research and Forecasting model version 3 (WRF3)] and a land surface model [Community Land Model, version 3.5 (CLM3.5)] were coupled to study the interactions between the atmosphere and possible future California land-cover changes. The impact was evaluated on California’s climate of changes in natural vegetation under climate change and of intentional afforestation. The ability of WRF3 to simulate California’s climate was assessed by comparing simulations by WRF3–CLM3.5 and WRF3–Noah to observations from 1982 to 1991. Using WRF3–CLM3.5, the authors performed six 13-yr experiments using historical and future large-scale climate boundary conditions from the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Climate Model version 2.1 (GFDL CM2.1). The land-cover scenarios included historical and future natural vegetation from the Mapped Atmosphere-Plant-Soil System-Century 1 (MC1) dynamic vegetation model, in addition to a future 8-million-ha California afforestation scenario. Natural vegetation changes alone caused summer daily-mean 2-m air temperature changes of −0.7° to +1°C in regions without persistent snow cover, depending on the location and the type of vegetation change. Vegetation temperature changes were much larger than the 2-m air temperature changes because of the finescale spatial heterogeneity of the imposed vegetation change. Up to 30% of the magnitude of the summer daily-mean 2-m air temperature increase and 70% of the magnitude of the 1600 local time (LT) vegetation temperature increase projected under future climate change were attributable to the climate-driven shift in land cover. The authors projected that afforestation could cause local 0.2°–1.2°C reductions in summer daily-mean 2-m air temperature and 2.0°–3.7°C reductions in 1600 LT vegetation temperature for snow-free regions, primarily because of increased evapotranspiration. Because some of these temperature changes are of comparable magnitude to those projected under climate change this century, projections of climate and vegetation change in this region need to consider these climate–vegetation interactions.


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